ARTICLES ABOUT CHAMPIONS TOUR BY DATE - PAGE 5

May 6 (Reuters) - Fred Couples, renowned for being one of the most laid-back figures in the game, was overcome by emotion after being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2013 on Monday. The American former world number one, a 15-times champion on the PGA Tour, twice choked up with tears during his acceptance speech in St. Augustine, Florida on what he described as "the coolest night of my life". Couples was inducted along with eight-times European Tour order of merit winner Colin Montgomerie, former U.S. Open champion and television broadcaster Ken Venturi, former European Tour executive director Ken Schofield and twice former British Open winner Willie Park Jr. The first American player to reach number one in the official world rankings, Couples broke down when he described how he had gained motivation to pursue a career in golf while attending a golf clinic in his native Seattle at the age of 14. "An unbelievable PGA Tour player was doing the clinic, and I got up front and I was staring at him," the 53-year-old Couples recalled.

Just in case Tom Watson waffles on whether to play the Chicago area's new Champions Tour event in June, Lanny Wadkins has a trump card. "He owes me one," said Wadkins, the World Golf Hall of Fame member who spoke Friday on behalf of Encompass, the event's title sponsor, at the annual Chicago Golf Show in Rosemont. Wadkins recalled that in 1974, during a tournament practice round in North Carolina, Watson was "hitting it left, right, left, right, everywhere" with his driver.

The Sports Xchange By Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange Golf roundup: Champions Tour members discuss proposed putter rule change --While not much news came out of it, much was made of the meeting Executive Director Mike Davis of the United States Golf Association had with members of the PGA Tour earlier this month about the proposed ban of anchored putters. Not much has been said about what the ban would do on the Champions Tour, although the impact might be even greater to the senior circuit.

The reaction of Champions Tour members to Augusta National's decision to admit women can be summed up in one word: bravo. “That's terrific,” Hinsdale resident Jeff Sluman said of the announcement Monday that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and business executive Darla Moore have knocked down the club's gender barrier. “I know Condi loves golf. In the locker room, we all talked and thought she might already be a member.” Fuzzy Zoeller, who won the 1979 Masters, said he had heard “through the grapevine” that this was coming.

KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina (Reuters) - As a 53-year-old golfer, Britain's Roger Chapman thought his chances of competing in another PGA Tour major championship had long since disappeared. But on Thursday, over a decade after the Englishman's last major appearance, Chapman will make his PGA Championship debut after an unexpected and lucrative rediscovery of form. Victory in the Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores, Michigan, in May earned him a place at the Ocean Course this week while a U.S. Senior Open title win in July earned him a berth in next year's U.S. Open.

June 10 (Reuters) - American Tom Lehman became the first player in six years to repeat in a senior major championship when he secured a two-shot victory at the Champions Tour's Regions Tradition at Shoal Creek in Alabama on Sunday. Lehman fired a four-under-par 68 in persistent rain during the final round to finish at 14-under 274, holding off strong final round charges by German Bernhard Langer (66), Taiwan's Chien Soon-lu (66) and fellow American Fred Couples (65)

Some of the world's best senior golfers are poised to return to Chicago for a Champions Tour event in 2013, 2014 and possibly beyond. Sources told the Tribune that the Champions Tour made a presentation May 31 to members at North Shore Country Club in Glenview. Chip Beck, Jeff Sluman and Hale Irwin helped make what one member described as an "impressive" pitch. The club's proxy vote is expected to be completed late next week and to result in a definitive "yes" to host the event.

This could be a Masters tradition unlike any other. In charge of the menu for the annual champions dinner, reigning titleholder Charl Schwartzel envisions a selection of lamb chops, steaks, traditional South African sausage - and himself standing over a hot barbecue. "I don't like formal dinners," Schwartzel said this week. "I thought of keeping it very relaxed, sort of standing around a fire and cooking the meat. " They call it a braai in South Africa, no less a source of pride as you'd find from serious grillmasters on these shores.

LUTZ, Fla. — Jim Thorpe hoped maybe he could just sneak onto the golf course. Show up at daybreak, toss the clubs onto a cart and head out to the tee. "Just kind of wave to everybody," Thorpe said with a laugh. Didn't work. Before the anxious Champions Tour pro could unload his trunk Tuesday at the TPC Tampa Bay, Hal Sutton drove in and pulled into his assigned spot right next to Thorpe's. Welcome back, Thorpey. You didn't really think you would go unnoticed for long, did you?

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Fred Couples is 51, has a back that hasn't stopped aching since October and for a time wouldn't travel anywhere he couldn't drive. Yet there he was Friday at Augusta National, cruising along in his accustomed position within arm's reach of the midway Masters lead. "Here, I would be playing even as a cripple," the 1992 champion quipped after a 4-under-par 68 moved him into a tie for seventh place, five shots behind leader Rory McIlroy. "I love this place.